Service technicians needed a fast, effective, method for pulling a press fit gear from a shaft without having to partially, or fully remove the shaft. Some removal methods and apparatus require that the shaft be partially removed (for example, slid forward one journal) in order to remove the gear. Although the gear removal apparatus and methods described in this document were developed for removal of a camshaft gear from a diesel engine, the features of various embodiments of the invention described herein are potentially applicable to any press fit component, especially those components including one or more surface features suitable for use with the types of component clamping described herein and their equivalents.